http://www.sfsite.com/ The new issue of the SF Site is now online. Copyright 1996-2010 SF Site en-us http://www.sfsite.com/images/sfspot1.gif http://www.sfsite.com/ http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica342.htm Sun, 17 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT The Cartoon Art Museum revealed to Rick Klaw many delights, chief among them exhibits featuring the works of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkley Breathed and a behind-the-scenes peek at the making of the legendary Looney Tunes. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/vi342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Angels are generally represented as either God-sent messengers or guardians protecting our souls from evil. And we must remember that devils and demons are, supposedly, just fallen angels. All in all, angels are supernatural beings bringing either light or darkness into our life. What better topic, then, for an anthology of fantasy /dark fiction? http://www.sfsite.com/columns/best11.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Welcome to the SF Site's 14th annual Editors' Choice Best Books of the Year -- our official Best Reading recommendations from everything we read in 2010. You'll notice some overlap with the SF Site's Readers' Choice: Best Read of the Year, and plenty of variance. Undoubtedly you can find some gem of a book here that you might otherwise have missed, as every book mentioned on this page is worth a look. Enjoy! http://www.sfsite.com/04b/md342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT To the Jackson's Whole geneticists who created him, he's a perfect clone, a work of art. To the Komarran terrorists who raised him, tortured him, and trained him, he's the ideal assassin. To Barrayaran Imperial Security, he's a dangerously unknown quantity and potential threat. And to Miles Vorkosigan, he's a wayward younger brother. But who is Mark Vorkosigan, really? http://www.sfsite.com/04b/of342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Four years have passed since the events of Halfway to the Grave and Cat is now leading a crack team of recruits who track down and eliminate vampires. The team is a first-class vampire killing machine whose physical skills are finely honed with a brutal training regimen and a touch of vampire blood infusions to give them an extra bit of supernatural boost. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/ts342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT The Earth is too crowded and a research corporation called the Long Range Foundation has invested in several ships to seek out new planets that humans can inhabit. There are already colonies throughout the solar system but they are too expensive and can only hold a limited number of colonists. The trick with all of these ships will be communication. The Foundation has found that some very few people, especially twins, are actually telepathic and can be trained to speak to one another with their minds. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/at342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Called a "Master of Alternate History" by Publishers Weekly, Harry Turtledove continues on that track with a set of 12 short stories. Topics and eras range from pre-history to the Peloponnesian War to the Byzantine Empire to World War II, along with two stories set in modern times. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/di342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT The story takes a look at an America where terrorists, both foreign and domestic, all attack at once, threatening not only our creature comforts, but the Constitution of the United States of America. The year is 2024 and many factions are tired of America's slothfulness and reliance upon technology. They all band together in a movement called Daybreak and bring not only America, but the world, to its knees. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/mm342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Once again, listeners have the opportunity to visit the Golden Age of science fiction in this audio release of selected short stories written by L. Ron Hubbard for pulp magazines such as Astounding Science Fiction, Startling Stories, and Thrilling Wonder Stories. This audiobook contains four stories brought to us by a cast of performers and narrated by R.F. Daley. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/ao342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Morwenna is a Welsh girl, with an identical twin named Morganna (also called Mor), and with an involved family history, living in the valleys in South Wales. But some months before, there was a terrible accident and Mor's sister dies, while Mor is sufficiently injured that she still uses a cane and walks with pain. Mor blames her mother for what happened, though somewhat indirectly -- it seems her mother, a somewhat dreadful and rackety woman is also a magic user, and had plans to became a Dark Queen. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/cm342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Diana has been living out of her suitcase and couch-surfing for weeks, so she really needs a place of her own. So when she's shown an apartment that comes with a set of rules (Rule #3: Don't pet the dog) and Mr. West, a mildly weird landlord, she's willing to overlook the little bell going off in her head in order to get free utilities, a jukebox with her favorite songs, and a fridge already stocked with her favorite soda. The apartment, West tells her, likes her. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/ve342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT The premise is that in 1870 a terrible plague of vampires swept over the northern regions of the world, annihilating millions of humans outright, and condemning many more to death from disease and famine. The survivors fled south to the tropics, where vampires could not stand the constant heat. Aided by their steam-based technology and a determination to rise again, humans rebuilt their shattered societies. Princess Adele is the heir to the Empire of Equatoria, a remnant of the old British Empire. Adele is 19, and promised in marriage, for political reasons, to a man she has never met. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/wo342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT King Authun, son of the god Odin, has only daughters, so with the help of the witches who live on the troll wall, he finds a way to give himself an heir. He travels to a Saxon village to steal a baby, who in turn, was stolen from the gods. To his consternation, he finds twins instead of one child and takes both and their mother back with him, assuming the witches will know which should become his heir. King Authun leaves no witnesses to his crimes. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/ja342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT It is only ten years after the Martians had invaded Earth, at least according to H.G. Wells, where they were killed by viruses unknown to them. Professor Coffin has the remains of some of the Martians on display as a curiosity among many other unnatural attractions that are losing their interest quickly among the visitors. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/sc342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT An intelligent script can turn an old idea into an entertaining film. Source Code is that old chestnut about reliving the same experience over and over in the hope that, this time, it will not end badly. The filmmakers tacitly acknowledge that the idea is unoriginal by casting Quantum Leap's Scott Bakula in the voice role of the hero's father. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Doctor Who returns April 23. Rick missed listing it in the April issue, so here is a list of the episodes announced so far in the new season. http://www.sfsite.com/04b/bf342.htm Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT The story picks up six months after the close of Back to the Future III. It's 1986, Doc is missing and his possessions are about to be auctioned off by the city of Hill Valley. A saddened Marty McFly goes searching through his old friend's workshop when, suddenly, the DeLorean appears, containing only Einstein and a recorded plea for help from the Doc! http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica341.htm Wed, 6 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Many of you are already familiar with Carla Speed McNeil's gender-fuzzing sf opus, Finder, as installments have appeared for years on the web, and in indie comics form, and Voice is set in that same world, the domed city of Anvard, where genders seemed to shift and blend faster than in The Left Hand of Darkness, among a greater array of clans duking it out for control than you see in Dune. Mark London Williams has a look. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/best11.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Welcome to the SF Site's 14th annual Editors' Choice Best Books of the Year -- our official Best Reading recommendations from everything we read in 2010. You'll notice some overlap with the SF Site's Readers' Choice: Best Read of the Year, and plenty of variance. Undoubtedly you can find some gem of a book here that you might otherwise have missed, as every book mentioned on this page is worth a look. Enjoy! http://www.sfsite.com/04a/ub341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT The volume collects sixteen of his less available works beginning near the very start of his career in 1953 and spanning the next 40 years. The stories are arranged chronologically, and, with a few exceptions, are very emblematic of the times in which they were written. But throughout the decades, Farmer returns to several common themes, especially those dealing with religion and medical doctors. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/dc341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT This is a curious mixture; a cross-genre novel aimed at young adults, yet based on characters from classic fairy tales. The lead character is Henry Whelp, the juvenile son of the Big Bad Wolf who killed Little Red Riding Hood and her granny. A crime for which Whelp senior is now imprisoned at a maximum security facility. Henry, also begins the story incarcerated, in the St. Remus home for Wayward Wolves, for the crime of breaking a window. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/best11b.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Every year SF Site asks you, our readers, to tell us what you felt were the best books you read from the year that just ended. For the past several weeks, we've been reading your recommendations with keen interest, and tallying your votes for the best of the best. What follows is the list that you and your fellow readers have chosen as the best books from 2010. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/ue341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Clara Gardner is one-quarter angel which, among other things, makes her faster and smarter than her peers although she tries to hide this, so she can live as normal a life as possible. Being an angel-blood also means she has an individual purpose for her life but discovering the details isn't easy. She gets bits and pieces from a vision of a boy, a truck and a raging forest fire that lead her family to move from the Bay Area to Jackson, Wyoming. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/tm341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT The gathering storm has broken. Black clouds roil the skies and the Dark One's taint mars the land. Skirmishes rage along the borderlands as Trolloc hordes surge out of the Blight in horrifying numbers. The Black Ajah is still at large and death stalks the halls of the White Tower, with Aes Sedai found mysteriously murdered. And armies are marshalling too late under the banners of Andor, Malkier and The Dragon Reborn, as the Forsaken scheme in the shadows to thwart destiny and crush the Dragon before his final confrontation with Shai'tan at Tarmon Gai'don. And thus the stage is set for Towers of Midnight. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/ad341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Brood, a lieutenant of the local police force in Solar City, is a post-apocalyptic place of perpetual darkness. Brood uses drugs to suppress parts of his brain that control fear and loathing to be at his best to do his job, yet through them he gains memories of a better past spent with those he loved, when the light once lit the city showing its once glorious sights. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/pa341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Rick had high hopes for this sf comedy, because Simon Pegg worked on the script of Shaun of the Dead, as well as playing Shaun, and did a wonderful acting turn as Scotty in the new Star Trek. As the bishop said of the egg, parts of it were very good. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/vn341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Alexander Humphries led the first manned expedition to Venus, and became among the first to die there. It was an unexplained equipment malfunction that doomed Alex's ship and crew to rest on the toxic surface of Earth's twin forever. In the two years since, there have been rumours that the malfunction may have been the result of sabotage. Alex's brother, Van, will have to make the long trip to Venus and descend onto the planet's broiling surface to discover the truth of what happened. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/zo341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Where were you when the zombiepocalypse hit? Running errands? In class? Asleep? For David and Sarah, it was simple: they were on their way to marriage counseling (which, by the way, wasn't going so well). But when they stumble across their counselor snacking on the appointment before theirs, it's cause to worry. Cue a nonstop fight for survival, as the bickering couple attempts to stay one step ahead of the hungry hordes of restless undead. Seattle's never going to be the same again. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/tg341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Eleven-year-old Tom is a rather ordinary English schoolboy, who fears bullies and enjoys games. He begins to experience unusual deja-vu episodes -- some of which are genuinely terrifying experiences of impending violent death; his parents bring him to a family doctor and then a psychologist. It seems that perhaps growing pains are taking their toll. But things don't add up, in true hero-with-hidden-special-powers-story fashion, and then, he encounters an adventurer Septimus Mason. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/pp341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Therez Zhalina is the daughter of a rich merchant in the city of Melnek in the country of Veraene. She hopes to have her life broadened when she accompanies her older brother to his university. Alas, all her plans are destroyed when her father decides to marry her off to an influential man. But Therez, on meeting the man, takes an immediate dislike to him, and is further furious at the lack of any consideration of her own future. So she decides to run away. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/derek341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Derek first read Bram Stoker's Dracula when he was eleven years old. At the time, it fit in nicely with his other reading which leaned heavily on adventure fiction of the period. His cinematic viewing was limited to two screen iterations of the infamous Count Dracula, both in a comedic vein. He went on to read classic vampire stories along with watching horror films like The Lost Boys, Near Dark, Once Bitten and Bram Stoker's Dracula. And now along comes Red Riding Hood and Beastly. http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT The big news in April is the beginning of the new HBO series Game of Thrones, based on the best-selling fantasy series by George R.R. Martin. HBO has a good reputation for doing things right, and fans of the books can be thankful that HBO bought them instead of SyFy. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/lf341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Uncle Forry. The Ackermonster. Dr. Acula. A few people despised him. Thousands loved him. He's been gone for three years now -- born 1916, died 2008 -- and Deborah Painter, a longtime friend of Forry's and sometime contributor to his magazines, has written a full-scale biography of the most Famous Monster of them all. Considering the long-term affectionate relationship between them, one would hardly expect this book to present an objective view of its subject. Nor does it. And that's all right. http://www.sfsite.com/04a/sm341.htm Fri, 1 Apr 2011 11:00:00 GMT Dominic had such a great time last year reading Memory Sorrow and Thorn for the first time that it was a no-brainer to continue to explore the work of Tad Williams. He discovered another fantasy trilogy called Shadowmarch. As was the case with Memory Sorrow and Thorn, the final volume of this planned trilogy just got too big and had to be published in two volumes. http://www.sfsite.com/rssfeeds01.htm Sat, 1 Jan 2005 11:00:00 GMT After constructing our first RSS feed, it soon became apparent that the size of files could grow quickly. We decided to separate them into smaller ones, breaking them up by month. On this page you will find RSS feed files for all of our content beginning with January 2005.